Only Cabinet Can Decide on Admission of Arab Refugees, Golda Meir Says’

June 15, 1961

JERUSALEM (Jun. 14)

The only authority which can decide whether Israel should admit a portion of the Arab refugees is the Israel Cabinet and no such decision has been made yet by the Cabinet, Foreign Minister Golda Meir told a press conference here today. She was replying to a question by a correspondent about possible changes in Israel’s position on the refugee question.

Mrs. Meir reiterated Israel’s view that, not the refugee question, but the refusal by the Arabs to recognize Israel’s existence is the key problem. “No gimmicks can alter this fact, ” the Foreign Minister added.

Reporting on her recent tour of the Scandinavian countries, Mrs. Meir stressed the extreme warmth and friendship of all Scandinavian countries toward Israel. The Foreign Minister described the quiet pride of the Scandinavians when, during the Eichmann trial,, witnesses and documents retold the successful efforts on the part of the Scandinavian countries to rescue Jews threatened with annihilation at the hands of the Nazis.